​Andrew Whitehead'sBlog

My first serious cycle ride of the year this morning. An hour criss-crossing around Dartmouth Park Hill, Highgate and Hampstead Heath - rewarded by a magnificent view from the top of the Heath, near Jack Straw's Castle

The ride has four significant climbs - two of which I can manage (three on a good day, which today wasn't). I've never managed to get all the way up Swains Lane without getting off to push - it simply a matter of whether I can get as far as the entrance to Highgate cemetery.

The heath is enchanting in the morning sun - and this morning, I was rewarded with a wwonderful view of a cormorant on a pole in the middle of one of the ponds.